Just at the beginning of the lucrative Christmas business, Dutch authorities enforced European environmental regulations in a remarkable initiative: At the beginning of December, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE; www.de.scee.com) confirmed a news bulletin published in the Dutch newspaper “NRC Handelsblad” which reported that a batch of video game console “PSone” (Playstation) models intended for delivery to Europe was detained by customs officials in Tilburg/The Netherlands. Prior to that, the Dutch customs and environmental protection authorities had detected cadmium levels which were up to twenty times higher than the official EU limit in the product´s cables and peripheral equipment. According to Handelsblad, the detained batch of consoles contains 1.3m PSone units and 800,000 ancillary devices worth EUR 180m.

The authorities have issued a statement however, that the detected cadmium levels are not dangerous to users if they comply with the instructions. Hence, according to the Dutch health board, recalling any of the devices which have been available on the market for several years is uncalled for and unrealistic. The limit values are used to protect the environment from long-term damage which may be caused by improper disposal of the plastics components containing cadmium as a stabiliser or dye at a later date.

Despite the fact that Sony “considers the Dutch authorities´ interpretation of applicable laws and regulations with reservation”, the company has decided to opt for a sensible solution: after organising substitutes for all plastics and other components, limited numbers of the PSone consoles were delivered to the European market in the middle of December. Moreover, the company points out that these measures do not affect “Playstation 2”, the current generation of game consoles.